The Nightmare Hound
by BadgerLeopard
Summary: Yorkshire, 1906. Legends of the Nightmare Hound have spread throughout the villages of Balbreck and Tylesbury, and several hunters have tried to kill the elusive beast. When the Doctor and Leela arrive on the scene, they discover a deadly plot to unleash hell on Earth, and must join forces with a local villager to save the world...
1. Part 1

**The Nightmare Hound**

**Part One**

**Featuring the Fourth Doctor and Leela**

_Yorkshire, 1906._

Edward Mandeveer had his eyes open and his wits about him. He was on the trail of the Black Hound, which had terrified the locals ever since young Darcy Redwood vanished whilst foraging for blackberries. Edward, however, was not like Darcy in any way: he was a strong man, with a steady hand and a large amount of skill. That was what a hunter needed. All a coward ever needed was somewhere to run towards, or so he thought.  
He was a young man, mid-30s being still considered young, and had an elegant moustache that curled slightly, making him look like a Frenchman. He thought it was an excellent moustache, but others thought otherwise.  
Dressed in his finest hunting leathers and with a shotgun in his hand, Edward was in his prime: concentrated and ready to bag the hound before it would bag him.

He was near the forest when he first heard the cry of the hound: it was loud and sharp, like a knife made of glass being scraped against a plate. It certainly was unlike any hound he had faced, that was for sure.  
"Show yourself, beast!" he yelled, with his natural Yorkshire accent, "Show yourself!"  
As a warning, he fired into the air. The shot echoed throughout the moors, eventually revealing the hound: it was half like a bear, half like a wolf, with thick brown fur all over its body. Its eyes glowed blood red, and his teeth were like white shards of glass.  
He fired at it as the beast charged towards him, but shotgun cartridges did no good. The hound headbutted him, making Edward hurl his shotgun away, before the hound feasted on his remains.  
In the seconds before his death, Edward now realised that he should have been a coward.

In Balbreck, a nearby village, a tall blue police box began to wheeze and howl into existence just outside the local pub. As it was the dead of night, nobody seemed to notice or care about the strange box with a flashing light on top.  
Once the box had fully materialised, the door opened, and a young woman, with long brown hair and who was dressed in a brown velvet jacket, white shirt and brown trousers, emerged from within.  
"This isn't the theatre where Mr Jago worked, Doctor," she announced, "this is somewhere else."  
"Somewhere else? Really?" the Doctor wondered, looking around, and then concluding, "It appears the TARDIS has dragged us here for a reason, eh, Leela?"  
He shut the door and the pair of them began to stroll off, towards a stream that they could see nearby.  
"Why is there nobody about?" she asked him, as they walked along, "I thought you always wanted to go to places where there are people."  
"I do, I do," he answered, "but the TARDIS has taken us to a place that needs our urgent attention. We need to do what we always do, Leela."  
"Solve mysteries and figure out strange events?"  
"Exactly."

The pair of them eventually sat down on a bench, next to a young woman who was crying into a handkerchief. They looked out and saw the calm stream, as well as the tranquil night sky.  
"Are you alright?" Leela asked the woman next to the Doctor.  
"My husband," she answered, in between sad periods of crying, "he's been taken by the hound."  
"The hound?" the Doctor wondered, "What hound would that be exactly?"  
"The nightmare hound. The hound that roams the moors at night and kills those that dare come near it. My husband thought that it was a good idea to try and kill the beast. But now... but now..."  
She sobbed once more, and Leela turned to the Doctor.  
"This must be the reason why the TARDIS brought us here, surely?"  
"It does appear so. But it doesn't add up."  
"What does not add up?"  
"If there had been a hound on the loose in Yorkshire in 1906, then I would have heard about it."  
"How could you have been able to hear about it?"  
"Because, Leela, an event like that would have been picked up by the TARDIS scanners, and I don't remember noticing any hounds near the region of 1906. Well, if you don't count fictional hounds. And also, I spent three months in 1906 being taught fencing by Basil Rathbone. We got on so well together."  
"You use strange words. Who is Basil Rathbone?"  
"It doesn't matter. We've got a hound to catch!"

Emily Markham was sat in her local pub in Tylesbury, near to Balbreck, drinking a pint of pale ale. She enjoyed pale ale: it was a nice change from the usual pint of beer that she got when she was in Edinburgh, and it was a very effective way of relaxing. After all, she had had a busy week, travelling to and from Edinburgh multiple times whilst coping with her weekend job as a stable girl.  
A hooded figure entered the pub at that moment, letting the door swing back behind him. The pianist, who had been playing jolly music, now stopped and turned to face the figure, who was stood just behind him.  
"Where is the beast?!" demanded the figure, with a savage growl.  
"What beast? I don't know what you mean." the pianist pleaded, but his pleas were useless: the figure's hands glowed a fiery orange and fired a beam of orange light at him, turning the innocent man into dust. The figure then turned to face everyone else.  
"Where is the beast?!" it growled once more.  
Everyone else screamed.

The strange woman who the Doctor and Leela had met had revealed her name to be Matilda Mandeveer, and had allowed them to stay at her house. They had obliged, naturally, as the Doctor knew that if he and Leela wanted information about the hound, then Matilda was their answer.  
"So then, Doctor, Leela, what do you do for a living?" she asked them, whilst making a pot of tea at the same time.  
"The Doctor and I travel in the TARDIS," Leela explained, "but we did not intend on coming here. We were aiming for London."  
"And what's a TARDIS then? Is it a new type of car?"  
"It's a boat, actually." the Doctor said, before Leela could mention anything else anachronistic about them, "We purchased it in Manchester and we accidentally went the wrong way."  
"I see. But I know a lie when I hear one. My father said I got some sort of gift which meant that I could smell a liar when one was close."  
"And are we liars, Ms Mandeveer?"  
"Yes, Doctor. You are. So tell me what a TARDIS really is, or else I'll throw you out of my house."  
Leela shared an awkward look with the Doctor, who nodded.  
"A TARDIS is a time and space machine, and I am a warrior of the Sevateem. The Doctor is a Time Lord, and we travel together. Does that satisfy you?"  
"Yeah, I suppose. Do you want me to show you what my husband wrote about the hound?"  
"Yes, Matilda. Yes we would, otherwise we'd be two odd fools, stumbling about in the dark, both metaphorically and physically, trying to hunt your hound." the Doctor said, before pouring some tea into a cup and having a sip.

The hooded figure was now heading back towards the brown stallion that it had rode in order to get to Tylesbury, holding a strange scanner in its hand. A small red dot was flashing in the middle of a large green area, whilst a small blue dot was also flashing near to the red dot, but not near enough. He sighed at what he saw, and placed the scanner back into his pocket.  
"The beast shall be mine soon." he said to himself, "And then armageddon can begin."

**To be continued...**


	2. Part 2

**The Nightmare Hound**

**Part Two**

**Featuring the Fourth Doctor and Leela**

_Yorkshire, 1906._

The hooded figure was now heading back towards the brown stallion that it had rode in order to get to Tylesbury, holding a strange scanner in its hand. A small red dot was flashing in the middle of a large green area, whilst a small blue dot was also flashing near to the red dot, but not near enough. He sighed at what he saw, and placed the scanner back into his pocket.  
"The beast shall be mine soon." he said to himself, "And then armageddon can begin."

The Doctor was now rapidly reading through all of the notes Matilda's husband, Edward, had made on the strange hound that he had heard so much about. Leela, on the other hand, was stood with Matilda, looking out of the window.  
"I wonder what it's like," Matilda said, gazing up into the night sky, "travelling among the stars. You're lucky you know, having a friend like the Doctor."  
"I am. We have been to so many places together, but yet I feel as if I wish to go back to my home."  
"And where is your home exactly?"  
"A distant jungle world far in the future. It is strange though: I cannot remember its name."  
But before she had a chance to try and remember, the Doctor found something and yelled with his terrifically booming voice, "I think I've found something that you two might want to see!"

The brown stallion stopped suddenly in the middle of the moors. The hooded stranger had been riding it for the last hour, constantly prompting the horse to move towards the location of the hound, and now he had found it.  
He could see the hound just ahead of him, bareing its teeth and ready to consume its next victim. There would be no victim tonight however: the hooded hunter took out a jewel which glowed a fiery orange, and the hound raced towards him, before stopping half a metre away from the horse.  
"You are here my hell hound," the hunter snarled happily, "and now my plan will commence."  
The hunter hopped onto his horse and started off towards Balbreck, with the nightmare hound by his side.

The Doctor had discovered that, on the exact same day as rumours about the hound had began to spread, a mysterious hooded figure had arrived and had murdered dozens of people in nearby villages.  
"Does this mean that this hound comes from space?" Matilda wondered.  
"No, of course not. It comes from a planet like you, me and Leela." he answered, before adding, "And I have a hunch about where it comes from."  
"Doctor, you do not have a hunch. Your back is perfectly fine." Leela said, not understanding what he had meant.  
"Leela, it's a figure of speech. It means that I think I know something. And I think I know that the hooded figure is from the Androvarian Nebula, and that his name is Helkis."  
"Helkis? That is a very strange name."  
"Helkis and his hell hound wreak chaos and destruction on any world they choose. But, long ago, they were separated during a mission gone wrong. Helkis ended up imprisoned and the hound drifted through the Time Vortex, presumably bobbing up in Edwardian Yorkshire."  
"It is like a myth that my father told me about."  
"Is it?"  
"Yes. Kravagon the Great Demon would unleash fire and death on many worlds with a dog by his side. That dog could breathe fire and had sharp glass shards for teeth."  
"Perhaps your father's legend was based on the real thing, hmm?"

Jack Tildercroft was enjoying a quiet night out when he saw a very strange thing enter the town. He wasn't someone who would usually have a quiet night out, but as his wife, Jessica, wasn't at home, he decided to sit down on a bench and gaze up into the night sky.  
The very strange thing he saw, however, disrupted his quiet night: it was a tall hooded man, riding on a brown stallion. But that was nothing compared to the fact that the nightmare hound, a myth he had heard so much about, was at the rider's side.  
"How the devil did you control that thing?" he asked the rider, in pure astonishment whilst also being afraid.  
"That is not important." the rider replied, "But in order for my plan to work, I must take the form of a local human."  
"That's a funny way of speaking, that is. Local human?"  
"Yes. You."  
The rider then lifted down his hood to reveal his true face: his skin was rough and brown in colour; his eyes were dark and stared deep into Jack's head; he had a short snout for a nose, like a warthog and had a large mouth. On the back of his neck was some sort of electrical implant with a socket, which had a thick metal stick plugged into it. He removed the stick and activated it, pointing it at Jack. A wave of red energy began to slowly make Jack vanished, descending from the top to the bottom.  
Once Jack had vanished, the rider plugged the stick back into the socket on his neck, and his features altered, making him have the appearance and voice of Jack Tildercroft.

The Doctor, Leela and Matilda had decided that they should have a break from the mystery of the nightmare hound, and were walking towards the stream that ran through the town. On their way, something strange caught Matilda's eye: she could see the nightmare hound, stood next to Jack Tildercroft, a local wool merchant.  
"Err, Doctor, Leela," she said, making them rush over to where she was standing, "you might want to see this. I think I've found the hound we've been looking for."  
They both gazed in amazement.  
"_That_ is the hound?" Leela enquired.  
"Yes, but what's it doing in this humble old village, hmm?" the Doctor wondered, before concluding, "We'd better go over there and ask its owner why they own a man-eating devil dog."

The rider was standing by the stream, with the hound stood next to him, when the Doctor arrived to join him.  
"Hello there," he greeted, "I'm the Doctor, and these are my friends, Leela and Matilda Mandeveer."  
"Why do you have such a strange dog?" Leela asked, standing next to the Doctor and Matilda.  
"I purchased it." the rider replied, with Jack's voice.  
"You know, there's no point trying to lie." the Doctor advised.  
"We know who you are, Helkis." Leela added, making the hound snarl and growl at her furiously.  
"You must not know. Who are you, and how can you know about my true identity? Is this form not convincing enough?" the rider snapped, now revealing who he really was.  
"Well, seeing as you've mentioned your form not being convincing, I gather you've used your body compressor to steal the body of a local and use it to blend in. I have to say you're doing an awful job, but then you've done a lot worse." the Doctor remarked, beaming, "You know, I'm wondering what your plan is, Helkis, because I think you're planning armageddon."  
"You are an intelligent creature."  
"People often say that, but not as rudely as you put it. I think, Helkis, you have a powerful gemstone with you, and you plan to insert it into something in order to destroy Earth."  
"How can you know this?"  
"Because I'm brilliant. Unfortunately there's one thing you don't know: that crystal is a temporal crystal, found at the heart of every TARDIS. If you insert that into anything, then time will be torn apart, and you'll have condemned both yourself and everyone else in the universe to being erased from history."  
The rider growled with rage, and pulled out a laser blaster.  
"You know too much. You shall be destroyed, and I will succeed!"

**To be continued...**


	3. Part 3

**The Nightmare Hound**

**Part Three**

**Featuring the Fourth Doctor and Leela**

_Yorkshire, 1906._

The rider was standing by the stream, with the hound stood next to him, when the Doctor arrived to join him.  
"Hello there," he greeted, "I'm the Doctor, and these are my friends, Leela and Matilda Mandeveer."  
"Why do you have such a strange dog?" Leela asked, standing next to the Doctor and Matilda.  
"I purchased it." the rider replied, with Jack's voice.  
"You know, there's no point trying to lie." the Doctor advised.  
"We know who you are, Helkis." Leela added, making the hound snarl and growl at her furiously.  
"You must not know. Who are you, and how can you know about my true identity? Is this form not convincing enough?" the rider snapped, now revealing who he really was.  
"Well, seeing as you've mentioned your form not being convincing, I gather you've used your body compressor to steal the body of a local and use it to blend in. I have to say you're doing an awful job, but then you've done a lot worse." the Doctor remarked, beaming, "You know, I'm wondering what your plan is, Helkis, because I think you're planning armageddon."  
"You are an intelligent creature."  
"People often say that, but not as rudely as you put it. I think, Helkis, you have a powerful gemstone with you, and you plan to insert it into something in order to destroy Earth."  
"How can you know this?"  
"Because I'm brilliant. Unfortunately there's one thing you don't know: that crystal is a temporal crystal, found at the heart of every TARDIS. If you insert that into anything, then time will be torn apart, and you'll have condemned both yourself and everyone else in the universe to being erased from history."  
The rider growled with rage, and pulled out a laser blaster.  
"You know too much. You shall be destroyed, and I will succeed!"  
Thankfully, the Doctor knew exactly what to do in these sorts of situations: he grabbed Leela and Matilda by the hand and they ran away, beams of red energy narrowly missing them.

The three of them eventually stopped just outside the local pub, so that they could recover after rapidly sprinting away.  
"Doctor," Leela asked, "were you telling the truth?"  
"Telling the truth about what exactly?" he answered, asking another question.  
"About the temporal crystal. Is it really what Helkis is carrying?"  
He smiled at her.  
"I may have been lying about that, yes, but it made no difference. He'll soon be unleashing hell upon Earth, and I have no idea about how I'm going to stop him."  
"You have no idea about a lot of things."  
"Yes, but have my plans ever gone wrong?"  
She thought carefully about her answer.  
"There was that time with the laser monkey and the sword of flame."  
"Oh, alright then, you may have a point. But we can't stand here idly chatting all night. Matilda, do you know of any ancient monuments that could be used by someone like Helkis to destroy the world?"  
"There's the church crypt." Matilda pointed out.  
"The church crypt? Yes, the church crypt!"  
He started to run off again, before turning round to face the pair of them.  
"What church crypt?"

Helkis had found what was concealed within the church: there was a large crystal pillar which was connected to a large stone cube, and on the cube there was a slot large enough for the crystal that he was carrying. Excellent.  
"Calm yourself. Soon we can begin." he advised the nightmare hound, who was barking furiously. The reason why it was barking emerged a few seconds later: the Doctor, Leela and Matilda had arrived.  
"Good afternoon," the Doctor said with his usual booming voice and a charming smile, "you know who my friends and I am, so it's nice of you to look annoyed with us."  
"You are an irritating creature. I shall be happy to kill you first." Helkis growled.  
"Lots of people say that. You know, lots of people have tried to invade Earth and they've been stopped by me. Helkis, I am Earth's defender, and you are a very easily distracted person."  
"What do you mean?"  
But it was too late: Leela had thrown her knife at his hand, and it struck it spot on. Helkis dropped the crystal, and Matilda swiftly grabbed it. The hound snarled at them furiously and advanced towards them, baring its teeth. Luckily, the Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and activated it at certain frequency, making the hound simply fall asleep.  
"I think your plan's over, Helkis." the Doctor remarked with a grin.

The Doctor and Leela had decided to drop Helkis off on an abandoned but habitable planet, and so were stood outside the TARDIS, looking at Matilda.  
"I've enjoyed my time with you two." she said to them, with a smile, "I don't know what I'll do know."  
"Well, I suppose that you could come with us?" the Doctor proposed.  
"No thanks. I would love to, but not now. I think I might see what else there is lurking here on Earth."  
"Oh really? If you're sure."  
"Yes. If I see you again though, I'll definitely say yes."  
The Doctor smiled.  
"I should warn you that I have a habit of changing my appearance from time to time. I may look a little different if I bump into you again."  
"I reckon I'll know if it's you."  
He turned and entered the TARDIS, leaving her alone with Leela.  
"Leela, do something for me."  
"What?"  
"Look after him. He may be remarkable and brilliant, but he needs someone to watch his back."  
"I will. The Doctor is someone who often walks into dangerous situations, and I will try to do my best to get him out."  
"Goodbye. Have fun."  
"Thank you."  
Leela then followed the Doctor into the TARDIS, closing the door behind her. After a few moments, the lamp flashed and the tall blue police box wheezed and howled away, off to new adventures.  
"Remarkable. Utterly remarkable." she commented, as she walked off back to her house, ready for her brand new adventures.

**THE END**


End file.
